Why are bass rods short?

[Gnarwhal]

The majority of bass rods are under 8' long.  The majority of salmon, steelhead, inshore salt, etc. rods are over 8'.  I find it interesting.  What do we gain with a short rod?  

[MN Fisher]

Accuracy - bass fishers like to hit specific targets...the shorter the rod, the more accurate it is.

[Gnarwhal]

2 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Accuracy

I feel like I'm plenty accurate with a 9' drift fishing set up....and at longer range.

 

Short sticks are easier to maneuver in close up or tight situations probably giving an accuracy advantage there.

[MN Fisher]

Just now, Gnarwhal said:

I feel like I'm plenty accurate with a 9' drift fishing set up....and at longer range.

 

Short sticks are easier to maneuver in close up or tight situations probably giving an accuracy advantage there.

If you think you're accurate enough with that 9' rod - go for it. Me? I'll keep my 7' and 6'6" rods.

[bulldog1935]

try being accurate with the 9' rod at 30'.  

Inshore, we use 7' for blind drift fishing, shorter rods for sight fishing, and 8-9' rods for 100+' accurate casts across tide passes.  

 

A cast is a ballistic shot - every 20% increase in lure release velocity doubles cast distance.  

This is the purpose of 9' steelhead rods or 8'2" inshore UL.  

 

[Boomstick]

36 minutes ago, Gnarwhal said:

I feel like I'm plenty accurate with a 9' drift fishing set up....and at longer range.

Accurate at what distance? A lot of bass fishing is short pitches and flips at 10-20' or even less. Then there's skipping baits, walking baits etc.

I mean if you can do this reliably with a 9' rod, I will get a lifesize idol of you made and keep it in my house.
 

 

[jimmyjoe]

   The issue is not what we gain with a shorter rod, the issue is what do we gain with a longer rod. For salmon/steelhead, it's line pickup. A lot of them are float rods. As for inshore rods, lengths are all over the map. I seriously doubt that a high percentage are 8', much less over 8'. I could be wrong, though.  ?          jj

[Bubba 460]

I have a little different take on shorter rods verse long rods. Having started at a young age fishing for bass, my limited range of rods were from rods being 5 foot 5" to 6 foot 5" and all was hunky-dory. Fast forward to the early 70's and my move to Alaska. Now fishing for salmon instead of bass I soon learned that a 6' or 6.5 foot Bull Whip bass rod or a Fenwick "Lunker Stick" I had brought was not an ideal rod to handle a 20 pound silver or a 40 pound king salmon in a heavy current. The amount of force they can instantly put on a rod like that will make a believer out of you. They will either break your line, break your rod or wave by-by as all your line is ripped off. Most well versed fishermen there use heavy fly rods for river fishing,  9, 10, 12 wt fly rods They have the flexibility and also the backbone to withstand the shock these fish can generate on gear. Your hand is the drag applied when and how much is needed. This way the fish fights the rod, you don't fight the fish ~ much easier. 

[Deleted account]

21 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

   The issue is not what we gain with a shorter rod, the issue is what do we gain with a longer rod. 

Perfect.

[Bubba 460]

10 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

   The issue is not what we gain with a shorter rod, the issue is what do we gain with a longer rod.

 

 Is this really the right forum for this?

[ironbjorn]

The right rods for the right technique are not short. Swimbait rods are long. A lot of deep cranking rods are long. Big open water techniques. But that's not the majority of bass fishing. Bass like to be up in the BS and we have to get around it, advantage shorter rods. Bass fishing isn't cast and pray, it's targeted - advantage shorter rods. 

[Deleted account]

8 minutes ago, ironbjorn said:

cast and pray...

LMAO.

I'm gonna borrow that.

[ironbjorn]

7 minutes ago, BassWhole! said:

LMAO.

I'm gonna borrow that.

Lol credit my kid. I play Call of Duty with him and he calls the kids who are trash and use LMGs "spray and pray". I guess it catches on for various aspects of life

 

[Jaderose]

A lot of the time, I'm less than 9' ft away from what I'm casting at and surrounded by trees.  That rod ain't helping me there.  Most of the time, my casts are probably under 30 feet.  I get in tight.

[The Bassman]

 

I miss the days when just about every bass rod other than flipping sticks was under 6.5'. Now it's the other way around.

[Log Catcher]

I don't have any rods longer than 6'6" and don't want one any longer. There are still plenty of people that sit down in the boat or walk the bank to fish that need shorter rods. The fishing industry wants to forget about these people and cater to everyone that believes they have to have the longer rods.

[detroit1]

My boat's rod box only fits rods up to 7'.  I have a couple of telescoping 7' 6" flipping/ pitching rods.

[islandbass]

8 hours ago, Gnarwhal said:

The majority of bass rods are under 8' long.  The majority of salmon, steelhead, inshore salt, etc. rods are over 8'.  I find it interesting.  What do we gain with a short rod?  

I’ve done enough testing and trying out with my rods as I too thought of that same question years ago and I’m the type of person nerdy enough to investigate such things. 

It’s really no mystery. The right tool for the job. 
 

I also live in a part of the country that you can fish for bass or salmonids. 
 

Bass rods don’t need to be that long. Imagine working a 3/4 to 1oz jig with a 10’ rod. That’s some potential for fatigue. Can it be done? Yes. The question is, why? Also, many scenarios involve close quarters fishing. The shorter rods offer lightsaber wielding capabilities that make it easier to cast I n such conditions where it would but just ridiculous to use a 10’ float rod. I mean heck, sometimes a 7’ bass rod is too long in tight quarters, lol. I can and always pitch with my 8’6” all the time from the bank when need be. 

 

One of the reasons salmon and steelhead rods are longer is because more often than not, you are either fishing in rivers or from a much farther distance from your quarry than you would in a bass fishing scenario.   The extra rod length helps to mend line in the current, hence allowing the angler a better ability to control the line. It also helps to set the hook from a much greater distance. Have you ever tried to set the hook with a single hook lure with a 6’6” rod from a country mile away? Good luck, especially in there is too much slack in the line, lol.

 

 

 

 

[Junk Fisherman]

The trend has been going to longer rods.  I haven’t used a rod under 7’ in several years and the last few rods I’ve bought were 2 @ 7’6”, 2 @ 7’4”, and a 7’9”.  About the only time I would use a short rod is if I were skipping docks.  

[islandbass]

6 hours ago, ironbjorn said:

 Bass fishing isn't cast and pray, it's targeted - advantage shorter rods. 

Generally true but as a shorebound angler, there are times I know I can’t get to where the bass are so I reverse that phrase. I pray and then I cast, lol. ?

[Michigander]

Rods aren't 9', 10', 11', 12'+ because they wouldn't fit in our rod lockers, duh. LoL ?

[ironbjorn]

9 or even 8 + foot rods for a fish that's mostly targeted around some type of cover close to the bank can't make sense to me. Open water fishing with things like swimbaits or deep diving crankbaits have long rods specially made for them. A lot of big lake, open water smallmouth guys often use longer rods than largemouth anglers do, but the green fish is by far more targeted due to abundance and access across the country. There's just not much of a reason for huge rods for most bass fishing.

[Boomstick]

22 hours ago, Bubba 460 said:

 

 Is this really the right forum for this?

...and that's how suddenly an entire forum of bass anglers instantly switched from bass to surf fishing overnight.

[Deleted account]

32 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

...and that's how suddenly an entire forum of bass anglers instantly switched from bass to surf fishing overnight.

LOL.

I have (and have had since we lived in a NYC studio apt) a 13' one piece 8 and b8 heaver, might try it for BFS...

[WRB]

Bass fishing started off using conventional bait casting reels and rods designed for those reels. The early fresh casting rods hand a short pistol grip handle about 6” long for 1 handed casting using the thumb to control the reel speed.

In the 50’ bass casting rods ranged from 5’ to 5 1/2’. In the 60’s the rod length increased to 6’ still with pistol grip handles. The 70’s To 90’s the 12” straight handle trigger grip 6 1/2’ rods became popular. Today bass rods lengths are 7’ to 7 1/2’on average. Longer rods keep evolving with rod materials and use of wider variations in lure presentations.

Trout rod were primarily spinning tackle length hasn’t change much since the 50’s with 6’ to 6 1/2’ rods. 

River Steelhead and salmon rods are longer to present bait or small lures to keep line off the water and haven’t change a lot since the 50’s average 8’ to 9’ long rods.

Salt water have gone through several changes in length as fish specific and technique rods evolved. 8’ to 9’ live bait rods with more parabolic action to launch the bait effectively.

9’ to 10’ casting rods developed for long distance “iron” casts.

Short 5’ to 6’ tuna rods and trolling rods evolved as presentation and techniques change.

Drift boaters usually 1 rod and maybe a spare, vert technique specific. Bass boaters often carry 10 to 20 rods for specific applications ranging from 6’ to 8 1/2’ long.

I wouldn’t say bass rods are short, they are optimized for the application.

Tom

Tom